Dog-hole ports

They were commonly called dog-holes because the schooners that served them would have to be able to "turn around in a harbor barely small enough for a dog".

This coast is dominated by cliffs and bluffs uplifted from the ocean floor by waves and currents from marine terraces.

Mooring under a cliff to a buoy or by anchor, the ship received cargo down an apron chute or, later a wire hoist.

When a ship entered a port, it moored to a buoy (often a log anchored to the bottom) and would be warped or winched into position for loading.

Where prevailing weather conditions permitted, shippers built wharves allowing the ships to come alongside and load directly from the dock.

As late as 1910, the winding, narrow coast road was still very rough and ended at the Pfeiffer Resort on the Big Sur River.

It described chutes from 60 to 600 feet long consisting of wood forming a shallow trough that extended from a headland or high wharf or pier to water deep enough to allow vessels to load goods.

It was dangerous work; if the seaman slipped or the brakeman was slow, the lumber could kill or injure the crew member.

[13][12] Mill operators generally built their lumber loading facilities on the lee (usually the south) side of a point.

This allowed the land to break the force of the waves and caused the direction of the swells to roll straight into the cove.

[14] Along the Big Sur coast, powdered lime was packed into barrels that were then attached to cable strung from the coastal cliff.

The cargo was hoisted in slings from the landing along a cable winched about 50 yards out into the Pacific Ocean, where it was loaded aboard coastal schooners.